


A Reckoning

by ErisMornIsBae



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErisMornIsBae/pseuds/ErisMornIsBae
Summary: A month after she disappears, word reaches Meredith of someone named V taking jobs in Night City, so she sets up a meeting to find out where V went.
Relationships: Meredith Stout/Female V, Meredith Stout/V
Comments: 3
Kudos: 110





	A Reckoning

_"Would you hurry the fuck up?"_

_Go fuck yourself, Johnny._ V hissed in her thoughts.

_"I'd love to, but you're the only one here with hands."_

_Fuck off._ V turned and glared at the patch of wall he had chosen to lean against.

_"You know you don't have to look at me, right? I'm not actually there."_

V clenched her fists as she imagined how satisfying it would feel to break his jaw. _Why now? Why bother me now, of all times?_

_"You were bein' loud."_

Again V looked at him. _I haven't said a single word since this morning!_ She pursed her lips as she glared. The walls of the run down motel seemed to press in as she started to pace, her boots tapping lightly on the carpeted hallway floor.

_"Were thinking loud. Lotta whining, like some poor teen bitch who got stood up at prom."_

_What the fuck even is that?_ V said indignantly.

_"Fucking 2077."_ Johnny shook his head as he leaned back against the wall.

V stopped as she came back in front of the door again. Her hands came up to rest, palm down on her hips, and she was about to lay into the construct again; when the door slid open. She froze with the words half formed in her thoughts. The tension drained from her body as she took in the sight before her.

_Fuck._ She thought to herself.

_"Great. 'Nother corporate bitch."_

V ignored Johnny as she looked Meredith over. She looked the same for the most part; the same hairstyle, the same tight uniform, even the same angry expression from when they’d first met. V crossed her arms, leaning back on her left foot as she felt her heart beating faster and faster. Her lips curled up into the beginnings of a smirk a moment before Meredith took a swing at her.

_“Maybe she isn’t so bad.”_

V hit the door behind her with a hard thud. The hallway spun as she tried to keep herself standing despite the mounting head trauma. So far Meredith was giving Johnny a run for his money. She blinked hard a few times as she watched Meredith stomp over to her. Her hands came up as she weakly tried to stop the furious soldier. “Mer-wait…”

V saw the punch coming this time. Her implants kicked in as her heart rate spiked again, and she managed to duck under Meredith’s fist. She winced as she felt the door shudder and heard the loud crack echo down the hallway. Meredith stumbled backwards as she cried out in pain, gingerly clutching her wounded fist to her chest.

“Mother fucker!” Meredith hissed as she turned back to her motel room.

V stood up again and followed close behind her. “Meredith, hold on. What the fuck is going on.”

“Fuck you!” Meredith exclaimed as she spun around to jam her good finger into V’s chest.

The mercenary flinched a little as she felt the finger jam her in the thin line where her cyberware showed. Meredith turned back to the room and stepped in, trying to slam the door shut with her good hand. The flimsy door shook as V wedged it open with her foot.

“Meredith! Why ask me to meet you if you’re just gonna hit me?”

Meredith poked her head into view just to glare at V. “To see if you were fucking real you cunt.” She shouted at her, leaning further unto the door to try and close it.

_“Come on, V. Wastin’ time with this psycho bitch.”_

_I will end both of us!_ V clenched her fists before pushing the door open easily. Meredith stumbled back as the smaller woman brushed her aside to step into the room. “Wanna tell me why you’re mad, or just keep hurting yourself?”

Meredith slammed the door as hard as she could, before stepping further into the room. V let her by before taking a seat on the only chair without stains on it. She watched as Meredith paced before her, still clutching her broken hand. Even if the circumstances were unfortunate, she couldn’t help but relax as she watched her. V hadn’t even bothered to get her hopes up with Meredith. She’d been in and out of reality for a month and a half as Misty and Viktor took care of her. Besides, Meredith had practically gotten off to her air of nonchalance; which only added to V’s confusion when she got a text from her out of nowhere.

Meet me at the usual place. It was a pretty awful attempt at being cryptic, given that they made no effort to really hide where they went. They had paid for the motel room upwards of twenty times, and that alone would give someone the trail necessary to find them both. V perked up a bit as Meredith stopped pacing on the center of the dirty carpet. She turned to face V, walking over to stand before her. Again, V cursed herself out as her shin seemed to burst into flame.

“Fuck!” She screamed, clutching her shin with her hands. “Stop hitting me, Meredith!”

_“Stop hitting me, Meredith. Sound like pussy, V.”_

“Fuck you, asshole.” Meredith said yet again. “Make me wait a month; no calls, no texts, nothing.”

“Meredith…”

“They found the flathead, idiot.” She said, interrupting V. “Our people at Arasaka say they might use it to leverage another war. So thanks for killing Saburo Arasaka with the help of Militech hardware.”

V cocked her head to the side as she watched her. “You really care if Militech and Saka go at it again?”

“Of course not!”

“Then what is this about Meredith?” V pleaded. “Are you really mad that I stood you up?”

“Yes, V! That’s exactly why I’m mad.” Meredith said. “We fucked on this bed,” she said as she gestured at the mattress beside her, “multiple times a week. For over a fucking month!”

“You always acted like it didn’t mean anything?”

“I’m also a cold, calculating bitch at work.” Meredith shouted. “That doesn’t mean I want my girlfriend to drop off the face of the earth.”

V dropped her foot back on the floor. Waves of dull pain still radiated from her shin, but she ignored it as she tried to process what was being said. "Ok, how the fuck would I know that? It's not like you said 'hey, this is a relationship' at any point."

"You're right, V," Meredith said sarcastically. "I must have been so busy spending time with you, getting to know you, and routinely having sex with you, to stop and consider if I actually had feelings for you!"

" _Fuck. Like I’m watching every old fucking shit reality show. Buncha teen whores whining because they can't find true love."_

_Thank you, Johnny._ V glanced at him for a moment, her fists clenching just a bit as she spoke. _More useless commentary. Also, aren't you, like, thirty?_

_"Eighty-eight, technically."_

_Well, 'technically' you're just code._

"Are you having a fucking stroke or something?" Meredith said after a few seconds of silence.

"What?" V focused back on reality. "No, I'm just… thinking."

_"Tell her to mind her own damn business."_

"You're just sitting here staring into the corner!"

"Would you shut it?" V yelled at Johnny. She turned back to find Meredith squinting at her. "I've got a lot going on, ok? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I was fucking busy."

"Busy killing the most powerful man in the world?"

"I didn't kill Saburo, Meredith."

Meredith crossed her right leg over her left, resting her uninjured hand on the knee as she spoke. "Right, you just used the military equipment you stole to go and say hi. Somehow he just happened to die at the exact same time.

_"She's deflecting.”_

_She’s not…_ “Why do you care about Saburo?”

“Fuck you.” Meredith growled as she brushed an errant strand of hair from her face. V could see her trembling just a bit as she moved.

“Meredith.”

“Why?” Meredith steady her shaking hands as V watched her expression shift. The anger and pain melted away to reveal a calm, dispassionate gaze. “What was the fucking point?”

V shrunk a little in her seat, already feeling the fight leave her. “We were there to steal something.”

“Holy fuck, I’m not talking about Konpeki plaza, V.” Meredith said.

“You… wha-...” V struggled to keep her head around what Meredith was talking about as the blonde woman changed the subject again.

_“Shit, managed to stick your dick in crazy without having a dick. Kinda impressed, V.”_

“Dude?!” V shouted at the wall to her left. “Can you give me like two minutes of privacy?”

_“Don’t have to speak out loud.”_

“I think I get it.” Meredith said softly. “You’re just insane.”

V had to stop herself as the seams along her arms widened, the blades underneath almost coming out instinctively. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Meredith.” V shouted. “How about next time you get to watch your best friend die, get shot in the fucking head, and find out a terrorist is erasing you from existence.”

Meredith watched V, her cold facade never faltering as V shouted in at her. “Did I just not see this before? Or did this come after Jackie died?”

V stood suddenly, the chair beneath her rocking a bit. “Give me your hand.” V said calmly. Meredith watched her silently, refusing to move. “Come on, Meredith. Just for a second.”

Meredith finally relented, and V dropped to a knee before her. She brought the other woman's hand up to her head and gently pressed it along the left side. Meredith pressed her hand in just a bit, already regretting it. Touching V’s soft, blue hair brought back a flood of memories. Most involved them in a situation like this, with V on her knees before her and Meredith tangling her fingers in her hair.

“No, hold on.” V said as she guided her hand just a bit lower on her head. “There.”

Meredith pressed her hand harder onto V’s head, trailing her middle finger along a thin line that curved horizontally on her skull.

“What is that?” Meredith’s face softened back to her normal, less angry demeanor.

“It’s where a ripper pulled a bullet out of my head.” V said, gently stroking her thumb on the back of Meredith’s hand.

“Fuck, does your ripper double as a carpenter from Nazareth?”

V cocked her head to the side as she glared at Meredith.

“Come on,” the blonde woman said. “I kind of had to go for it.”

“Whatever.” V muttered as she stood back up. She dragged her chair back to its original spot a few inches closer to Meredith and then sat down. “I didn’t ‘drop of the face of the earth’, I fucking died, Meredith. And the next one isn’t gonna have a twenty-one year gap in between it.”

“Is that why you’re hearing voices now?”

“No, that…” V leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees, bringing her left hand up to rub at her temple. “That’s the terrorist I mentioned. The only reason I came back at all was because he pissed Saburo off enough to get his mind stored on a chip.”

“Like Relic?” Meredith asked.

“Like Relic.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they each came to terms with what had been said. V knew she should speak up, say something to try and help Meredith process all this. Every time she'd come up with something, she'd second guess herself before she could say the words. In the end, she sulked in silence until Meredith spoke up.

"So how long do you have?"

"A couple months. Maybe a year." V said quietly.

"I still have questions." Meredith said as she stood up.

"I'll try and answer them as best I can. I don't have all the info though."

"No, they can wait." V looked up at Meredith, surprised to find her piercing green eyes staring intently back. "You owe me, you know that?"

V cursed herself silently as she felt the smile spreading over her face. "I know. You still mad?"

"Furious." Meredith chuckled softly. "But, if you've got a timer going, then I'll just wait until afterwards to be mad at you."


End file.
